


Facing the Storm

by purplejellosg1



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Kissing in the Rain, Romance, samjackshipday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25577380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplejellosg1/pseuds/purplejellosg1
Summary: Written for the SamJackShipDay prompts 'Thunder' and 'It's you, it's always been you.' I know which episode I'd put it after but there are a number of places in the TV series this could fit. I'll leave it up to you, the reader, to place it where you wish!
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 9
Kudos: 53





	Facing the Storm

#

Lightning split the skies as the rain came down in sheets, heavy droplets bouncing off the roof of her house and streaming down the window panes like tears. She stood in the dark, counting down until a rumble of thunder could be heard. It wasn't far away, now, the storm getting closer as the night slowly passed.

She'd turned the lights off before the power went out, wanting the chance to admire mother nature at her most feroucison. Though the scientist in her could easily explain each flash and rumble, Sam had always thought there was something mystical about a thunder and lightning storm, something raw and primeval that appealed to her on a level she didn't really understand.

The rain called to her as she watched it. She felt the need to go outside and stand there as it soaked her, as it cleansed her and washed away the hurt and uncertainty currently swirling like a maelstrom instead her own mind.

The practical side of her mind argued against it, but the pull was getting stronger the longer the storm raged on.

A tear slipped down her cheek and she unwrapped her arms from her middle to wipe it angrily away.

She'd done enough crying; she was sick of crying.

There were things she couldn't change, things beyond her control. She could bend the laws of physics, achieve the impossible, but the simpler things, the things that others took for granted as being easy were impossible for her.

Things like being happy.

Like having it all.

Another tear slid down her cheek and she let it run down unchecked. She turned away from the window overlooking the empty road as another flash of lightning lit up the room and made her way through the darkened house.

#

There was no answer on her phone, either the landline or her mobile. It wasn't entirely implausible that her house could've been affected by the numerous power cuts affecting the Springs, and if he thought it through logically, he knew there was a pretty high chance her cell phone might've been flat and the lack of power meant she couldn't charge it.

If there was an emergency at the base and they couldn't be reached, the SF's would be sent for them. He knew that, she knew that... but still it bothered him more than words could say that he couldn't reach her.

He wasn't in the habit of calling her out of hours; they'd silently agreed some time ago to try and limit the contact they had with each other out of hours. Somehow they'd decided it was easier that way, as if keeping away from each other would make feeling feelings a little bit easier to live with.

Live with, but not act on.

Jack snorted, his hands gripping the wheel even tighter. Who'd they been fooling?

Impatience built up inside him at the speed he was forced to travel. On an ordinary, clear night, the drive from his house to hers wouldn't have taken long at all. The rain made visibility poor and the water on the road made it treacherous to drive on. His truck almost aqua planed twice, despite the heavy duty tyres, and he understood why there'd been alerts for people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

His journey was necessary, though.

For his sanity, if nothing else.

Jack couldn't explain why, but he felt driven to find her. He'd tried to relax with a beer and the sound of the rain but that little voice in the back of his head had kept whispering his name over and over in his head.

'Carter. Something's wrong with Carter. Sam.'

He'd resisted it for all of ten minutes, unable to shake the feeling.

Unwilling to.

He couldn't put the memory of his last image of her that day out of his mind. She'd been signing out just as he'd left the elevator at surface level; he'd called out a goodnight, startling her. She'd looked up at him and fixed a smile on her lips as she'd returned the sentiment but in those few seconds, when her expressive eyes had been unguarded and her feelings exposed on her features...

That was what he couldn't get out of his mind.

It was so rare for her to let herself be vulnerable, rare for her to let that mask of hers slip even if just for a second...

His gut clenched, his heart heavy and painful in his chest. He needed to check she was okay. Even if she thought he was being a fool, though he knew she wouldn't laugh outright at him. He could take the embarrassed surprise on her face, the humiliation of needing to stutter and stammer an excuse in front of those bright blue eyes...

He'd do it, if just for the peace of mind that she was okay. He wouldn't mind if it meant his instincts had failed him, as long as she was okay.

'Please, Sam. Please be okay.'

It was a silent mantra he kept up as he completed the painstaking journey as thunder rumbled ominously in the dark skies above.

#

There was no answer to his knocks, to his calls of her name. He had a key to her place; he, Sam and Daniel had exchanged them after the first year of working together, accepting there was a pretty good chance that one or more of them would end up in the infirmary at some point and would appreciate some personal belongings brought from home.

He could count on one hand the number of times he'd used it on her door; by another silent agreement, Daniel had taken over where getting things for Sam was concerned.

The rain had soaked through his shirt and trousers – he hadn't stopped to grab a jacket – but he barely noticed the chill as he fumbled in his pocket for the keys. He found hers straight away, but didn't let himself dwell on how or why he'd memorised what it looked like.

Entering the house, he paused, listening.

Silence, except for the sound of rain and thunder.

No, wait.

There was a tapping sound, one that didn't belong in her house.

He followed it, moving stealthily through the house he knew as well as if it were his own even though his visits there had been few and far between. He followed the sound to the kitchen, to the back door that was swinging open.

Jack's heart began to race, a number of scenarios playing out in his mind. Had there been a break in, had someone hurt her? Taken her? Was she hurt, dead or dying?

Was she...?

He hurried outside, back into the storm. His foot slipped on the wet grass in his haste. It jarred his bad knee but he managed to right himself, muttering a curse.

And then he saw her.

She stood motionless, face tilted up to the skies as the rain poured down on her. He couldn't tell if she was crying but his gut told him she was, and that caused his heart to clench painfully. She was still wearing the t-shirt and jeans she'd had on when he'd last seen her, both soaked through, clinging to her like a second skin.

Her pale skin looked translucent, her form taking on an ethereal quality as lightning flashed again.

She was beautiful, but hurting.

God, he hurt just to look at her.

Jack's hands clenched into fists at his side but he didn't hesitate in crossing the wet grass to her. She didn't realise he was there until his hands clasped around her arms and she lowered her gaze from the sky to his face, lips parting in a gasp as her bleary eyes slowly focused on him.

"Sir?"

Sir. That cursed word. One he'd grown to hate for the first time in his career.

"I'm here, Sam." He trailed his hands up her arms to her shoulders, from there they moved to cup her face. "I'm here."

Their gazes locked as the storm raged on around them. A hundred words or more exchanged in that glance.

She wrapped her arms around him, clung to him, lowering her head to his shoulder. He returned the embrace just as fiercely, pressing his lips to her neck, inhaling her rain-drenched scent.

"I didn't... I thought..." She tried to speak but couldn't get the words out. Couldn't say out loud the things they'd conditioned themselves never to speak of. "I can't do this. I can't..."

"I know," he reassured her quickly. "Me, too."

She trembled in his arms, shook her head against him. "Is this... Am I... Jack?"

"It's you, Sam." He pulled back enough to look at her, but closed the gap just as quickly. His lips were soft, undemanding. The kiss was meant to reassure, to convey deep emotion rather than arouse. "It's always been you, and always will be."

He tasted the salt of her tears on her lips, felt her grip on him tighten.

The storm continued to rage around them but in it, they found their peace.

#

End.


End file.
